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| Giacchino |
The End of Oak Street: (Michael Giacchino)
Audiences love seeing dinosaurs eat humans going about their daily
suburban lives. Ever since 1997's
The Lost World: Jurassic Park,
that sick pleasure is derived from people getting snatched from an
everyday context for giant lizard mealtime. Despite whatever its
filmmakers say about focusing on a 1980's family story, the 2026 movie
The End of Oak Street is yet another opportunity to see average
people battle prehistoric beasts. In this case, a whole section of a
Michigan suburban neighborhood is transported back to the era of the
dinosaurs, and it's not long before those nasty creatures start learning
how to invade homes. Luckily, the wormholes that deposit these unwitting
folks in a living hell do work both ways, so it's a matter of time
before some of them fight to get back to a normal universe. The key to
the movie is the Steven Spielberg homage of the aforementioned 1980's
family, however, with their personal issues playing out as they come
together for survival. The setting and era of the movie is critical to
its aesthetics and personality, and that style made
The End of Oak
Street a natural fit for composer Michael Giacchino, who was a
targeted choice for the assignment. Early 1980's John Williams
sensibilities, along with
Jurassic Park, were the clear
inspiration for this score's strategy, with a little bit of Jerry
Goldsmith's
Poltergeist thrown in with synthetics. Listeners
familiar with Giacchino's past know that this is an area of comfort for
him. Much from
Super 8 persists in the general tone of the
approach, with hints of
Tomorrowland in the rhythmic highlights.
The action derives from
War for the Planet of the Apes,
Land
of the Lost, and, of course,
Jurassic World. The tone is
never so massive as to suggest
Cloverfield, however. What's often
missing is the sense of wonder inherent in Williams' triumphs of the
era. That aspect starts to set in during the final cues, but the magic
is lost in the passages before. In that regard, Giacchino will never be
Williams despite his early, 1990's reputation as "the next John
Williams." The maestro's feel of extraordinary adventure is telegraphed
but not quite captured.
That said, Giacchino's music for
The End of Oak
Street is highly functional and can be recommended overall despite
some anonymity in parts. The composer's ensemble is very standard in its
orchestral posture, but there is not as much exotic percussion as one
would expect for the prehistoric intrusion despite some decent thrashing
from the section. Synthetics are very tastefully applied to the extent
the 1980's orchestral foundation allows. An extremely dry mix is a
horrible detriment to this music's fantasy presence, a longstanding
problem for the composer that had been rectified as recently as
Zootopia 2. Thematically, Giacchino alternates between two major
themes prolifically and keeps them central throughout. One secondary
theme is confined to the first half of the score, and a motif
specifically for the science fiction element also permeates. It's not
the most complicated narrative, and while Giacchino does divert for some
of the dinosaurs, no individual creature receives a memorable identity.
Critically, all three of the themes are rooted in the same opening
ascending structures; their purposes and performances are distinct, but
the overall narrative is helped by this connectivity. The score's main
theme is a true fantasy adventure identity but with a fair amount of
dissonance built into its performances. It debuts at 0:16 into "A Thin
Flowervale Between Life and Death" on brass with some adversarial spirit
before reducing to slightly nervous woodwinds against the time travel
motif in "Horticulture Club." The theme opens "The Light in the Static"
in a bed of mysterious haze and swirling dissonance, one of the moments
that most emulates Williams techniques in the work. Bassoons carry it
with a marginal sense of wonder in "Let Sleeping Dogs Library," and that
mode continues in "No More Mr. Nice Geyser" with even more ambiguity. A
grim feel with a sense of growing panic in "A Den of Coelophysis or the
Swamp Drains You" yields to cyclical layers with lamenting cello at the
forefront in the middle of "Strung Out Theory," in which the theme gains
nice depth on brass for another moment of realization. It emerges in
troubled shades from the thickly dissonant suspense in "Sphere Street
Blues" before a lamenting viola opens "Mi Casa Boo Casa" but quickly
dissolves to more suspenseful renditions, the idea growing into a
determined, desperate brass cycle against timpani with exhausted resolve
from there.
In the finale of the picture, the main theme shifts to
tired relief at the outset of "Old Pool Politics" and ominously
threatens later, eventually reminding of its wondrous presence in the
latter half of "I Need a Little Space-Time." The idea adopts the charm
of the upbeat ensemble at 0:43 into "Main on End of Days" but slashes
with some clanging from metallic percussion and shrill brass suspense.
As appropriate, the end of the cue appropriately reminds that not all is
right with the universe. Finally, the main theme carefully pulses out of
the mystery at 2:36 into "The End of Oak Suite" before a rousing, full
rendition over the original rhythms from the first cue's start. As in
Super 8, a secondary theme in
The End of Oak Street is the
more attractive feature. In this case, it's the identity for the Oak
Street neighborhood and the positive presence the Platt family has
within it. The prettier theme with spirited rhythmic movements and
satisfying bass harmonies, almost to suggest any idyllic setting, this
idea withholds its secondary phrasing until later in the score, when it
dominates by the end. Heard first at 0:44 into "A Thin Flowervale
Between Life and Death" on vivacious strings, the Oak Street theme slows
on piano over harp for tenderness in "Horticulture Club," becomes
tentative on strings and woodwinds in the restrained "The Family
Loners," and begins "Something Weird This Way Comes" warmly on cello but
is subsumed by the suspense element. It reprises its lovely form for
just a short moment at the start of "Lurch and Rescue," provides a more
substantial respite from "Reunion Station" for a minute, and is handed
to the piano in wholesome spirit during "One Good Mate Deserves
Another," during which the secondary lines are briefly explored on flute
in the short cue. The idea is potentially inverted at the end of "Mi
Casa Boo Casa" on brass for the reverse journey, that variant
punctuating the action in "The Starbuck Stops Here." Plucked with relief
in "Old Pool Politics," the lack of resonance denoting the ordeal is
palpable, and hearing no real embrace or even a false resolution to this
cue's ongoing renditions is a disappointment. Still, it picks up some of
that lost gravity in "I Need a Little Space-Time" with the secondary
lines in tow and continues that optimistic posture with those appendages
in "The Swap of the Ages." The crescendo concluding the cue is a little
flowery and artificial, but perhaps that was the point. The idea
overflows with positive energy at the outset of "Main on End of Days"
for the full ensemble, completing its destiny.
The closing suite in
The End of Oak Street is
the true catharsis for the Oak Street theme. A piano solo conveys it for
a minute at the start of "The End of Oak Suite" before segueing into a
continuation of the ensemble goodness for string swells. The piano
returns for the secondary lines before the main melody prevails over the
main theme at the end of the suite to bring a wholesome end to the
adventure. Featuring in the first half of the score is a Platt family
sadness theme, a more intimately rendered alternative in hearty flavor
to the Oak Street theme. It's technically an abbreviation of the longer
theme in its rising three-note phrases and slightly broken in its slower
pacing, as expected. Logically, it disappears in the narrative when the
family comes together to survive. A plucky, upbeat version occupies all
of "A Good Fence is the Best Defense," and the theme is contemplative
throughout "Father and Father Away" as a revelation of familial
troubles. Stumbling early in "Strung Out Theory," it is cut down to its
opening two notes only in the stunned "Spoiled Platts, Pt. 1," barely
intact in "Don't Be Sorrow with Me" after a substantial loss, and
diverts from the Oak Street theme for a moment early in "Main on End of
Days." Don't be surprised if this theme passes you by entirely, and some
might consider it a very basic, downbeat deconstruction of the
neighborhood identity. Headlining the darker half of the score for
The End of Oak Street is Giacchino's time travel motif, a
descending pitch of vintage Goldsmith spirit that sometimes has a touch
of Elmer Bernstein's ondes martenot. This call of trouble opens the
score in "A Thin Flowervale Between Life and Death" with woodwind
backing and offers a light warning of danger ahead in the middle of
"Horticulture Club." It is intriguingly absent from the initial time
travel sequences, which is something of a disappointment, eventually
returning in a cameo against nervous ambience in "Spoiled Platts, Pt.
2." The identity fascinatingly inverts early in "Sphere Street Blues"
during the increasing string tension, and it's alluded to in this
fashion during "Once and for Allosaurus" for more exoticism, almost like
an emulation of an animal call. The motif reminds of its original,
descending presence in the middle of "Mi Casa Boo Casa" and several
times later, increasing its weight to become broader, group pulses.
Finally, the time travel motif brings back its frantic worry with a
sense of inevitability in "I Need a Little Space-Time" and transitions
into the darkness at 1:58 into "The End of Oak Suite."
These secondary themes in
The End of Oak Street
don't change the reality that the two primary identities anchor the
score. Aside from them, Giacchino handles each of the dinosaur
interactions with distinctive instrumental approaches, some of which
more engaging than others. Clunking percussion and tingling accents
begin in the massive "A Den of Coelophysis or the Swamp Drains You,"
transitioning into blurting brass rhythms and rising string slurs, a
tired Giacchino favorite. These approaches are interesting in some ways
but not really listenable, nor are they always exciting. In this case,
the Oak Street theme isn't clearly deconstructed throughout the cue,
which is a disappointment. The plodding rhythmic inevitability grows
against swirling string dissonance in "A Few Fries Short of a Happy Mel"
and builds to a standard Giacchino crescendo of terror. Slightly exotic
woodwind and percussion presence in "Spoiled Platts, Pt. 1" resorts to
near humor. Giacchino's chugging pounding for the Allosaurus in "Lurch
and Rescue" gives way to an organ drone of horror. The rattling and
rustling sounds against bowed effects in "Reunion Station" are very
unsettling. Early groans in "Once and for Allosaurus" develop into
raging brass and percussion action that borders on heroic but crashes to
its appropriately dark end for a major killing. Skittish viola lines
punctuate the thrashing action late in "Mi Casa Boo Casa," and the final
confrontation comes with the rambling piano and brass alarms in "The
Starbuck Stops Here." In reality, there is only so much fresh material
Giacchino can write for dinosaur chases at this point, and it all blends
together this late in his career. The action material is technically
proficient, certainly, but it doesn't satisfyingly advance the score's
themes and thus offers little memorable presence. On the whole, the
music for
The End of Oak Street is on par with the quality and
appeal of
Super 8, with similar melodic grace at either end. As
translated to album, the score competes with none of the vintage songs
heard in the film. Listeners not interested in the rather stock suspense
and action for the dinosaurs will definitely want the bookends. Be
prepared to cull those highlights, because they are enough to merit a
fourth star overall. But you still can't help but lament Giacchino's
persisting inability to capture the magic that Williams brought to the
1980's with the same tools, whether due to lesser thematic resonance,
the awfully dry mix, or other intangibles that restrain this music to
its existence as an echo of the greatness it emulates.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Michael Giacchino reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.3
(in 56 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.06
(in 26,821 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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There exists no official packaging for the digital version of this album.
